Lament
by PlasmicFemale
Summary: Set after Phoebe vanquishes Cole. He's with her in spirit...literally. *A kind of chap.2 - not really a second part. . .more like a new story*
1. Default Chapter

LAMENT  
  
  
  
Dedicated to Cole Turner. . .we all loved you.  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, don't sue me.  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: I haven't watched the fifth season yet, so I don't exactly know how Cole was killed and how Phoebe felt about it. I'm just working from what I think happened, and basically going from there. Keep that in mind when you're reading, just in case you notice a few things that don't fit in with the show at all. This is set just after Cole is vanquished. . .and doesn't it suck that he was vanquished in the first place?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Phoebes, are you sure you're okay?" Piper asked as soon as they were back at the manor. Phoebe rolled her eyes.  
  
  
  
"Piper, I'm fine. Couldn't be better!" She said. "Why wouldn't I be?" Piper glanced at Paige.  
  
  
  
"Well, I suppose we never assumed you'd be this cool after just vanquishing your ex-husband." Piper said.  
  
  
  
"Piper, I'm fine. I promise. I feel better than I have in ages now that Cole is out of my life." Phoebe said climbing the stairs. "Listen, I'm going to have an early night, I'm exhausted."  
  
  
  
"Okay, goodnight." Piper said.  
  
  
  
"'night!" Paige called after Phoebe's retreating figure. After a moments silence Paige asked, "Are you sure she's okay?"  
  
  
  
"No. But she said she is, so we'll just have to take her word for it." Piper said shrugging.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Phoebe closed the door lightly behind her. She leant against it and slid to the floor, her head in her hands. It wasn't supposed to be like this. After vanquishing Cole she was supposed to feel like the weight of the world had just been lifted off her shoulders. Instead she felt like when they had vanquished Cole, he had disappeared along with a large part of herself. Was it possible that she had vanquished her one chance at happiness? Sure, she loved him. But that was a long time ago. The man she vanquished was nothing like the man she fell in love with. But deep down she knew different. Cole was Cole, the same man she vanquished. He was just hidden behind a wall of hurt and rejection.  
  
  
  
Phoebe pulled herself off the ground and onto the bed. Guilt was slowly creeping into her. Not only for being the one to vanquish him, but also for not believing that there WAS enough good in him to overcome the evil. It was her that had caused him to put up that wall, and it was slowly eating away at her.  
  
  
  
"I never believed in you. . ." She closed her eyes and clenched the pillow, knowing that less than a year ago Cole had lay on it.  
  
  
  
"You believed in me plenty." Phoebe's eyes flew open. She gasped as she saw Cole standing at the foot of her bed. She sat up wide eyed.  
  
  
  
"You're not real. I vanquished you. . ." She said, half trying to convince herself.  
  
  
  
"That's right, I'm a figment of your imagination." Cole chuckled. "You know better than that Phoebe." He held out his hand, and slowly Phoebe stretched out hers to meet his, but it didn't. Instead it went straight through it.  
  
  
  
"You're. . ." Phoebe started.  
  
  
  
"Dead." Cole finished. "You vanquished me, remember?" Cole said smiling. He sat down on the bed.  
  
  
  
"Why are you here?" She asked him, still trying to convince herself that she wasn't going crazy.  
  
  
  
"I wanted. . .needed to see you. To talk to you." Cole said softly. "To tell you that you did believe in me once, and I blew it. You have nothing to blame yourself for."  
  
  
  
"Cole, I vanquished you." Phoebe said.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, except that." Cole laughed. "But who's to say I didn't deserve it, right?" He stopped smiling when he saw her eyes welling up with tears. "Honey, don't cry. You didn't kill me, you freed me. I was lost. . .and you found me." He held out his hand to caress her cheek, and Phoebe found herself longing for him to touch her. But he couldn't.  
  
  
  
"I've missed you Cole." She said quietly.  
  
  
  
"I haven't even been gone a day." Cole said back, smiling gently.  
  
  
  
"You know what I mean. It's like it was your body. . .just not you. . .if I had kno--" Phoebe was cut off.  
  
  
  
"Not now. All that's over now. I want you to forget about that, and don't feel sorry about what you did, it was what you had to do." Cole stopped suddenly as if listening for something. "Phoebe, I have to go."  
  
  
  
"I love you Cole." She said softly. Cole smiled.  
  
  
  
"I know you do honey. And if I haven't made it clear enough, I love you too." He said standing up. "I'll always be with you."  
  
  
  
"Phoebe?" Piper opened the door and stuck her head in. "Are you sure you don't want some dinner?" She asked. Phoebe looked at the spot where Cole had been standing seconds ago, to her sister.  
  
  
  
"You know what. . .I think I will." She said climbing off the bed. She couldn't help but notice the flutter that passed over her lips, and the gently - almost unrecognisable - breeze that caressed her cheek as she walked out of the room. And as she closed the door behind her she knew everything would be okay. And if it wasn't, well then she'd have to figure out how to bring vanquished demons back to life.  
  
  
  
End 


	2. Memories

Disclaimer:  I don't own anyone, don't sue me.

A/N:  This really has nothing to do with the previous chapter, except that it is also a fic based after the vanquish of Cole.  I thought it was too short to make a whole new story, so just think of it as a new instalment.  It's basically just a whole load of scenes from the show put together.

*  *  *  *  *

_Phoebe hesitated before speaking.  "I'm gonna ask you a question, and all I want is a straight answer, ok? Can you do that?"  She looked up at him._

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"Ok."  Cole replied, slightly suspicious of the sudden seriousness. _

_"Is there something that you're not telling me, about you? Something that I don't know?"  She held her breath, waiting for a reply.  He didn't say anything, for what seemed like a lifetime._

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"No."  He finally said.  She looked into his eyes.  And she believed him._

_*  *  *  *  *_

Phoebe unconsciously rolled over in bed.  She was frowning in her sleep.  Lies.  Simple lies.  Lies that if had been prevented could have changed everything.  She rolled over again, a new dream replacing the old.

_*  *  *  *  *_

_With a wave of Cole's hand, Phoebe instantly switched placed with the witch hunter who was previously standing pointing a gun towards her. The bullet hit him squarely in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground.  It took a while for Phoebe to see Cole._

_"Cole."  She said simply.  She took a step backwards, shocked._

_"I couldn't very well let you die now, could I?"  Cole asked with an amused look as he moved closer._

_"I don't understand. How—How are you…"  She paused._

_"Here?"  He finished. "Let's just say I picked up a—a few powers lately, quite a few, actually."  He smiled vaguely.  He looked deeply into her eyes, as if searching for something.  Finally he turned around and headed back into the darkness.  He stopped and turned around._

_"I'm not giving up on us Phoebe."  He said softly.  "Ever. . ."_

_*  *  *  *  *_

And he didn't.  Not until it had all been over.  And even then he hadn't.  After everything, he had still tried to find a way for them.  Even after she had told him it was over, more than once.  Her comforter loosened around her, and she rolled over once again.  As she drifted into a new dream, her features grew less strained.  Serene, almost.

_*  *  *  *  *_

"What's that?"  Phoebe asked suspiciously, seeing for the first time the small bag he had been fingering gently.

_"This?"  Cole asked softly, raising the small, green bag and shaking it._

_"Yeah."  Phoebe said, almost a whisper._

_"It's just a little something I've been waiting for the right moment to give you."  Cole said walking forward.  He removed a small, dark box from the bag and opened it slowly, to reveal a beautiful ring inside it.  "It's not your Grams, but. . .hopefully it's not cursed."  He continued with a small smile._

_"I. . .I don't think now's the time."  Phoebe said hesitantly.  Despite the fact that she had been waiting for this moment for a long time now, there was too much to worry about._

_"Actually, I think now's the perfect time."  Cole said as he removed the ring from the box.  He fingered it gently before sliding it slowly onto her finger.  "This way, no matter what happens, you'll always know that I love you. . ."_

*  *  *  *  *

"Cole. . ."  Phoebe whispered.  The sound of her own voice woke her up and her eyes flew open.  She looked around the room, around the darkness.  Nothing.  No one.  She relaxed back into the comfort of her bed, pulling the comforter around her.  'Dreams.'  She thought.  'Only dreams.'  She sighed deeply before frowning.  "No."  She said out loud.  "Memories. . ."

*  *  *  *  *

Again, just something short I put together.  Hoped it was alright.


End file.
